UFC 280: Charles Oliveira refuses to acknowledge he isn't UFC champion

UFC sensation Charles Oliveira has explained why he believes he is still the rightful UFC lightweight champion.

Over the course of his incredible 11-fight win streak in the last four years, Charles Oliveira has well and truly cemented himself as one of the best fighters on the planet.

He managed to turn away a parade of top contenders en route to his first title shot, including Kevin Lee and Tony Ferguson.

Then, after beating Michael Chandler to hold the gold for the first time, he’s also seen off the challenges of both Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

Read more: UFC 274: Charles Oliveira fails to make weight & is stripped of lightweight title

However, prior to his win over ‘The Highlight’ back in May, the Brazilian star was stripped of the belt as a result of him weighing in at 155.5 pounds - half a pound over the lightweight limit.

He still managed to finish Gaethje despite this setback but technically speaking, he is not currently considered to be a champion in the UFC.

When discussing this matter ahead of his return to the cage this weekend, Oliveira made it crystal clear how he feels about the situation.

“They took my belt because of half a pound. I don’t give a f*** what they think, I’m going to keep making history.”

“I showed them I’m the true champion [by beating Gaethje]. I’m going for another title defence, I’m not going to win back a title. I’m going to defend it. Nobody can take that out of my head. Charles is still the lightweight champion.”

Oliveira’s head coach, Diego Lima, also weighed in on the controversy at the scales.

“We made the weight and went to bed making it. We posted it to our stories. It was very weird when we woke up and he was over weight.”

In the main event of UFC 280 on Saturday night,